By Lucinda Garbutt-Young and Noah Secomb in Canberra

More money in the pockets of workers and welfare recipients will form the basis of a renewed Greens bid to win the favour of disgruntled voters, as they contend with crises facing the party.

Leader David Shoebridge, who has promised to beat a rising One Nation and replace Labor despite the Greens losing three seats at the last election, will outline exactly how he plans to win back voters in his first appearance at the National Press Club on Wednesday.

The centrepiece of the minor party’s renewed platform is lifting the tax-free threshold from $18,200 to $26,000, which would give more than $1000 back to almost every working Australian.

Speaking ahead of his Press Club appearance, Senator Shoebridge insisted the policy should be considered now and could be negotiated with Labor before the next election, due to be held by May 2028.

But the party holds only one seat in the lower house and would need 75 MPs to cross the floor for the policy to pass.

Labor minister Murray Watt said his party had made its position on tax clear and was not willing to work with Senator Shoebridge on it.

“The Greens are welcome to make whatever statements they want,” he told ABC Breakfast.

”The reality is that come the next election, we will have either a Labor government or a coalition between the Liberals, National, and One Nation.

“They are the two options available, as much as the Greens want to claim otherwise.”

Senator Shoebridge said Labor’s “arrogance” would get in the way of them securing further support.

The minor party was garnering just 12 per cent of the primary vote in Essential polling, released on Wednesday.

“People need to have faith in politics and they need to believe that if the current lot you’re voting for are not going to help in your daily life … well, you actually have a choice,” Senator Shoebridge said.

The tax-free threshold policy would not be inflationary, according to Senator Shoebrige who took the party leadership about a month ago, because it will be offset by new corporate taxes, targeted at the resources sector.

To pay for the $22 billion a year commitment, the Greens would introduce a 25 per cent gas export tax and a market-linked resource rent tax.

“When the price of our resources goes up, the Australian people should get their fair share, after all the public owns the resources in the first place,” Senator Shoebridge will say.

But the policy could be overshadowed at the Press Club by questions about one of the party’s most prominent politicians.

Earlier in October, the leader received a letter from seven Greens members urging an investigation into Western Australian senator Jordon Steele-John.

The party’s spokesman for disability and mental health has been put on leave from the parliament until the state Greens branch completes its probe into allegations of inappropriate behaviour by the senator towards women.
Senator Steele-John denies any wrongdoing.

The Greens’ stance on providing only non-military support for Ukraine has also sparked a backlash from the party’s Ukrainian counterparts and the nation’s ambassador to Australia.

Senator Shoebridge has maintained the party’s stance hasn’t changed since the conflict began in 2022, supporting direct aid to Ukraine for self-defence and not the international arms trade.

News all day, every day at CityNewsQBN.com.au.